

184 PEOPLES OF THE PHILIPPINES 
are incumbent upon the distinctly rich in order to 
maintain their prestige and position in society. 
Another class of rites are agricultural. As already 
mentioned, these are almost wholly concerned with rice, 
other crops evidently being considered as thereby pro- 
vided for. Very often the agricultural ceremonies were 
interwoven with other motives. A freshly taken human 
head promoted the efficacy of the ceremony, which in 
consequence came to take on the aspect also of a rejoic- 
ing over victory. Any ritual able to promote the crops 
was likely to be considered powerful enough to bring 
about other desired results as well; and thus very often 
a rite that in origin may have been agricultural is now 
also a ceremony for health or wealth. There is in fact 
scarcely a Filipino ritual which does not in some 
measure subserve more than one purpose. 
A thing so important in human careers as marriage 
required all possible furtherance by religious means 
from the Filipino point of view. The result was that 
weddings were even more elaborately ritualized than 
among ourselves. Often the betrothal and the comple- 
tion of negotiations or purchase, as well as the final 
wedding itself, were the occasion of showy and sacred 
ceremonies. Birth and adolescence went off with very 
much less attention. But death was again an occasion 
when religious emotions were awakened. The pagans 
of Luzon keep the corpse for a considerable period after 
death, address both it and the spirits repeatedly, and 
slaughter as large a number of animals as the means of 
the deceased and his family permit. In Mindanao, 
the corpse is not kept so long, but a funerary ceremony 
is also held on a great scale, either soon after death or 
at the conclusion of mourning. 
Religious Officials. There are no official priests for | 
the conduct of religion among the modern pagans. 
